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Wray
How to Pronounce Wray
Pronounced RAY /ΛreΙͺ/Medium
Meaning: Wray is an English surname used as a boy's given name. It comes from northern English place-names built on the Old Norse 'vra', meaning a nook, corner or secluded strip of land. As a first name it often doubled as a stylish spelling of Ray, and its early-1900s American use draws on both the surname and that short, bright sound.Medium
Popularity in the U.S. Β· SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880βpresent). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Wray comes from villages in northern England named for a vra, Old Norse for a secluded nook. Carried first as a surname, it joined the American fashion for surname-first-names in the early twentieth century, helped by its likeness to Ray.
Wray was always a slim name, reaching its quiet high around 1927 with only a few dozen boys a year and thinning steadily thereafter, though it lingered in records into the late nineteen-eighties.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Wray mean?
Wray is a surname-name from the Old Norse 'vra', meaning a nook or corner of land, and also reads as a spelling of Ray.
How do you pronounce Wray?
It's said RAY /ΛreΙͺ/, one syllable.
Is Wray a boy or girl name?
Wray is a boy's name.
Is Wray a popular name?
No, Wray was always rare, reaching only a few dozen boys a year at a peak around the late nineteen-twenties.